The question of how to conduct good training, and what constitutes effective use for tactical “real world” situations comes up often. How does the Special Operations community answer the question? Let’s ask them!

Founded in 2005 by former members of Delta Force (1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta), TigerSwan (http://www.tigerswan.biz/) provides the full spectrum of weapons and tactical training for government, law enforcement organizations, commercial and civilian clients.

So how do these operators-turned-trainers address this question of effective training? This is quoted directly from a TigerSwan student handout:

Marksmanship Training Methodology

TigerSwan (http://www.tigerswan.biz/)

Dry fire! It only takes 10 minutes a day to see a marked improvement in performance.

Train on accuracy first! All other skills (magazine changes, movement, etc.) are useless if you can’t hit the target.

Establish expertise in the fundamentals and add one additional training goal at a time. For example, don’t jump from 2 well aimed shots on a single target from the draw to an El Presidente without training on the requisite skills (i.e. target transitions, the turn, magazine changes, etc).

Eliminate variables so you can isolate and correct problems. If you have sweaty palms, the sun in your eyes, a shine on your front sight and poor quality ammunition, its difficult to identify the cause of and correct marksmanship errors.

Ensure you can shoot well without combat gear before you conduct marksmanship training in full kit. When
you do add kit, add one item at a time. This will help identify to the shooter whether it’s the K vest or the helmet that’s causing the drop in performance.

Test yourself under stress. Shoot against a friend for a Gatorade, to determine who picks up brass or try to beat your last score on the Bianchi Cup. There is always a degradation of skills under stress. If you regularly train under stress, the degradation is substantially reduced.

Shoot competitively. It doesn’t mater if it’s IPSC, IDPA, NRA Bull’s-eye, 3 gun, etc. All of the competitive shooting disciplines require the shooter to execute perfect fundamentals under stress.